Sunday, September 20, 2009

Blunt Debate

One of the most recent and grotesque legislative threats to cigar smokers, our freedoms, and common sense is the Washington DC City Council's efforts to ban the sale of single cigars; because they are considered 'drug paraphanalia'. This is a legislative trend we have seen in other places and despite its stupidity, I'm sure we will see it again. So, we must address the problem with facts before it gets more ridiculous.

First, we must explain what a 'blunt' is, since most cigar smokers probably have no idea. The Urban Dictionary defines a blunt as a "cigar hollowed out and filled with marijuana." The term derives from the short-filler Phillie Blunt brand which was originally used to create blunts. The term blunt originated in the 1980s and continued to be a popular inner-city technique for smoking marijuana throughout the 1990s. Our research indicates it has faded in popularity over the last ten years.

It is important to note that blunts are made from short-filler, cheap cigars, which are available at convenience stores. Blunts are not made from premium cigars nor do they use natural tobacco leaves; they use homogenized tobacco leaf. A long-filler premium cigar cannot be emptied in the same way a short-filler cigar can and it would be prohibitively expensive to purchase a premium cigar to smoke marijuana. So, even if you think the government should prohibit products which can potentially have illicit uses, you must understand that premium cigars do not fit into that category. Furthermore, if you follow the logic of prohibiting products that can be used to smoke marijuana, then you will have to ban all paper, all plastic bottles, apples, and a myriad of other benign objects.

Ultimately, the idea of banning a product that has potentially illicit uses is absurd; by that logic you could ban almost everything in the world*. Even worse, it shows how intellectually bankrupt our legislators are and does nothing to protect citizens or our freedoms.

*This legislative mentality is brought to you by the same nanny state that believes it makes sense to ban products that are "attractive to children."..... Remember that our current legislators can take away ever pleasure and freedom you enjoy in the name of your "health and welfare".